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They've been tossed over fences, tied to gates and even left with a $20 bill under their collar. Abandoned animals are overwhelming Puerto Rico's shelters, which were already struggling to cope with the hundreds of thousands of stray animals that were roaming the island even before Hurricane Maria...

The world must do more to help millions of refugees across sub-Saharan Africa, which hosts more than a quarter of the world's refugees, the United Nations said Tuesday. U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi spoke to reporters while visiting what until recently was the world's largest refugee camp,...

The agency that oversees drainage, sewer and water systems in New Orleans faces an audit of its spending of federal money received following Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans news outlets report that the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General notified the Sewerage and Water...

Puerto Rico's governor on Monday ordered authorities to review all deaths reported since Hurricane Maria hit nearly three months ago amid accusations that the U.S. territory has vastly undercounted storm-related deaths. Gov. Ricardo Rossello said in a statement that it's possible the toll is higher...

Puerto Rico's governor on Monday ordered authorities to review all deaths reported since Hurricane Maria hit nearly three months ago amid accusations that the U.S. territory has vastly undercounted storm-related deaths. Gov. Ricardo Rossello said in a statement that it's possible the toll is higher...

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is rejecting a report by Refugees International criticizing local and federal hurricane response in Puerto Rico. Spokesman Daniel Llargues said Monday that FEMA has approved more than $1 billion in federal assistance and has distributed more than 120,000...

Texas has been awarded billions in federal aid to help recover from Hurricane Harvey and the devastating flooding that followed, but it's unclear how the state is spending its share of the money. State records don't indicate which contracts are storm-related, making fund tracking — and spending...

Most read stories this hour

Jubilant Republicans pushed on early Wednesday to the verge of the most sweeping rewrite of the nation's tax laws in more than three decades, a deeply unpopular bill they insist Americans will learn to love when they see their paychecks in the new year. President Donald Trump cheered the lawmakers...

Rumors swirled around the death of Bethany Lynn Stephens, a young woman from rural Virginia who, authorities said, was mauled to death by her dogs while out on a walk last week. Many suspected that someone else killed her and doubted that the dogs were responsible. Goochland County Sheriff Jim...

Sophia Bush shocked audiences earlier this year when she left "Chicago P.D." after the show's Season 4 finale. On Refinery 29's "UnStyled" podcast, Bush opened up for the first time about what made her leave her "dream job." "I landed this job that, since I was 20 years old and trying to become...

For most of his 18-year career as a U.S Navy pilot, Cmdr. David Fravor said his mother-in-law used to ask him a question: had he seen a UFO? For 15 years, the answer was no. But one clear afternoon off the coast of California in 2004, he says, that changed. Fravor, the commanding officer of a Navy...

If the moment does not move you, you've got a heart as cold as planet Hoth. Whether you love or hate "The Last Jedi," it's near impossible not to experience a jolt when reality crashes into fantasy as we witness the near-death of Leia Organa, as portrayed through the most affecting "Star Wars"...

Investigators are looking into whether the Amtrak engineer whose speeding train plunged off an overpass, killing at least three people, was distracted by the presence of an employee-in-training next to him in the locomotive, a federal official said Tuesday. The official, who was not authorized...

Organizationally aligned, the Bulls took a deep breath and embarked on the third full rebuild of Jerry Reinsdorf's tenure as chairman in June. And though no changes in managerial titles occurred, the change in direction produced a familiar wrinkle notable to anyone around the franchise on a daily...

For his sister’s 12th birthday, Brian Jasso wanted to buy her Skullcandy headphones. But he also wanted to take his girlfriend out on a date, and the 15-year-old didn’t have enough money to do both. He got up before the sun rose Sunday to help his mother’s boyfriend deliver newspapers to earn the...

When former College of DuPage board Chairwoman Kathy Hamilton ordered the school to hire her political strategist as a special assistant to the president, she and the strategist repeatedly described him as a volunteer and promised he would donate his salary to charity. But here’s what they didn’t...

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday raised the central questions surrounding his re-election campaign: What exactly would be different in a second term? Why won’t his agenda “just be crushed by” Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan “again and again?” The governor then sought to provide...

Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long underwent neck surgery Tuesday. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the surgery without providing more details. Long tweeted at 10 p.m.: “Crushed surgery today. Important procedure that will lead to much relief And success.” At around 8:40 p.m. Tuesday,...

Lauren Wasser woke up in a hospital bed 80 pounds heavier than she was supposed to be - filled with fluids to try to flush the toxins from her body. She struggled to move, and her feet felt like they were being lit with a lighter again and again. But the model did not know how dire her situation...

There’s a new sheriff in town, burger-wise. Bon Appetit magazine just named the three best burgers in the U.S., and the Dirty Burg at The Loyalist (177 N. Ada St.) is one of them. It was Bon Appetit, in 2012, that called the burger at Au Cheval (800 W. Halsted St.) the nation’s best. But nobody...

This, we suppose, is what they call the home stretch. Two trivial games left to close out another deflating last-place season. The struggling Bears are here once again, needing to find motivation in unusual places. John Fox’s club can’t avoid another 10-loss season — that fate was sealed with Saturday’s...

Much of the news surrounding Congress’ new tax bill has focused on politics — but what does it mean for you as an Illinois taxpayer? In condensed form, here are some of the changes and how they’ll affect the consumer’s wallet. Congress is expected to vote on the measure in coming days. New tax...

There’s a uniformity to the constant change at Halas Hall, and we’re not talking about players in navy blue. The dress code for leaders in Lake Forest seems to include red noses, fright wigs and oversized shoes. The public imagines George, Ted, Ryan and Foxy pulling up in a car, hopping out and...

President Donald Trump’s implicit threat to put the National Guard on the streets of Chicago to tackle the city’s violence problem attracted widespread ridicule earlier this year. But if the soldiers were instead wearing the sky blue helmets of United Nations peacekeepers there might not be such...

I wasn’t reassured by the headline across the top of Monday’s Tribune: “Trump: ‘No, I’m not’ firing Mueller.” This declaration followed a newly energized campaign of howling by right-wing pundits who are calling for the dismissal of special counsel Robert Mueller for alleged bias in his far-reaching...

I'm intrigued by the possibility that by the next time south suburban voters head to polls to choose a president in 2020, recreational use of marijuana could be legal in Illinois. State lawmakers are deliberately studying the issue and weighing many pros and cons. Discussion points include potential...

I know a Nathan Mathis. You might know one too. Mathis is a father who loved his daughter but didn’t love the news that she was gay. He’d been taught that her truth — whom she loved — was unacceptable. And he let her know as much. “I told my daughter that I would rather my child was dead than to...

Republican Sen. Susan Collins ripped news coverage of her decision to vote for the GOP tax-cut bill as “unbelievably sexist” on Tuesday.“I cannot believe that the press would have treated another senator with 20 years of experience as they have treated me,” the Maine senator told reporters at the...

The Cubs’ interest in free-agent pitcher Yu Darvish is surprising and intriguing at the same time. Darvish and Jake Arrieta, both 31, are considered the top two starters on the market, and if Arrieta’s asking price was expected to be too high for the Cubs to consider re-signing him, it made sense...

I spent the first two decades of my career as a social scientist studying liars and their lies. I thought I had developed a sense of what to expect from them. Then along came President Donald Trump. His lies are both more frequent and more malicious than ordinary people's. In research beginning...

Trump administration officials are forbidding officials at the nation's top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases - including "fetus" and "transgender" - in any official documents being prepared for next year's budget. Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control...

The Bears had no players voted to the Pro Bowl when rosters were announced Tuesday, the third consecutive year they have been excluded from the initial list of participants in the NFL all-star game. Once again they are in jeopardy of not being represented in the game for the first time since 1998-99....